Imus sticks foot in mouth, inadvertently triples ratings for Women's NCAA Tournament

Don Imus made a stupid mistake the other day when he referred to the Rutgers Women's Basketball team as "nappy-headed hos". The remarks were part of a conversation he was having with producer Bernard McGuirk who originally refereed to the team as "hardcore hos" .

This isn't the first time that Imus has gotten in trouble for racial remarks. He previously got in hot water for calling Gwen Ifill a "cleaning lady" and has repeatedly mocked politicians (largely without repercussions). Needless to say, Imus' 30 year career has had its less then politically correct moments.

The sad thing about this situation is that it is taking the light away from the game of basketball. Instead of remembering Rutgers as a team that had a great season and played in the National Championship, we will now remember them as the victims of vicious off color remarks by an aging radio icon. Instead of remembering them as great players, we will remember them as victims.

The last thing that any worthwhile athlete wants to be know as is a victim. Athletes view the world in terms of goals and strategies to achieve those goals. They loathe excuses and thrive on motivating factors, like the "nobody believed in us" speech that every team seems to give after winning a championship (2006 Tigers, 2004 Red Sox, 2006 Miami Heat, etc). Even this Rutgers team used the "nobody believed in us" speech after they beat LSU to advance to the finals.

"No one expected us to be here, But the long story short is that the people of the state of New Jersey, (and) these players first, believed in themselves and as a result I though that we executed extremely well, focused on the defensive side of it, and didn't really read any of the hype."

-Rutgers Head Coach C. Vivian Stringer

So if this team has previously thrived on people not believing in them, and has come together by believing in themselves, why are they playing the victim card now? Why, after they have studied, worked and endured all this hardship, are they coming off as helpless victims who need Al Sharpton to fight their battles?

The best thing that this team can do for their image, and for the image of Women's sports in general, is to take the high ground and forgive Imus. They should move on from this unfortunate issue and promote their sports and their student athletes. I want to remember this years NCAA women's tournament as a great bunch of games highlighted by a championship won by Tennessee, not as the unfortunate end of a radio icon who was brought down by special interest groups defending a seemingly "helpless" group of female student athletes.

EA Sports makes a star out of a former Potato Chucker

Last month, EA Sports announced that it would make former Boise State QB Jared Zabransky the face of NCAA Football 2008. This was a bit of a surprise considering the litany of household names that were expected to make the list over Zabransky. Brady Quinn, Calvin Johnson, Chris Leak, Ted Ginn Jr and Heisman landslide winner Troy Smith all could have made the cover. Any one of them has their merits and would have been a deserving cover boy. The fact that Zabransky made it over the other names indicates that EA is trying to market something different then the standard spoon fed media golden boys.

Zabransky, a former potato farm boy from Oregon, is exactly the kind of likeable, feel good player that college football epitomizes. At 6' 1'', 204 he has an average to small build, at least for a potential NFL Quarterback. He wasn't heavily recruited coming into college and it's possible he won't even hear his name called on draft weekend. He is currently ranked as the 12th best quarterback in the draft class by ESPN.

What Z does bring to the table is athleticism, moxie, leadership and a winner's attitude. He won 32 out of 37 games he started at Boise State and capped off his career with an amazing 43 - 42 Fiesta Bowl victory over Oklahoma in one of the most memorable games of last year. It is that type of energy, excitement and ability to conquer all odds that NCAA '08 is trying to promote.